Georgia court jails protester for blocking road under new law

Zurab Menteshashvili

A Tbilisi court has sentenced a 61-year-old protester to nine months in prison for blocking a road, the first such criminal conviction under Georgia's controversial new assembly laws.

Zurab Menteshashvili was convicted on Friday of repeatedly blocking Rustaveli Avenue in the capital, Tbilisi, during anti-government demonstrations.

Having already spent seven months in pre-trial custody since his arrest in October last year, he is expected to be released in two months.

Addressing the court before his sentencing, Menteshashvili said he had acted out of love for his country.

I love my homeland, I will do everything for it, and if this was a crime, I didn't know," he said, according to the local news outlet Publika. "I'm standing here and I can't do anything else, arrest me for the fourth time if you want."

The case is the first time Georgian prosecutors have secured a criminal conviction against a demonstrator for blocking a road.

In October 2025, Georgia's parliament—controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party and its allies—fast-tracked legislative amendments tightening restrictions on public demonstrations.

Under the new rules, repeat minor offences, including blocking roads when police deem it unnecessary, covering one's face with a mask, or carrying self-defence sprays, were upgraded to criminal offences. First-time offences carry up to 15 days of administrative detention, while repeat offences are punishable by up to a year in prison.

Police arrested Menteshashvili on the evening of 31 October 2025 on Rustaveli Avenue, accusing him of using his car to block traffic. He was charged under Article 347 of the Georgian criminal code.

Human rights groups and legal experts have strongly criticised the legislation and the court's decision.

Tamar Oniani, chair of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, described the verdict as "an entirely new chapter" in the targeting of political opponents.

This is the first prisoner held criminally liable for exercising the right to freedom of assembly under a legal framework specifically designed to undermine that very freedom," Oniani said.

She added that the judge, Nino Galustashvili, could have referred the law's constitutionality to the Constitutional Court or sentenced Menteshashvili to time already served.

By adding an extra two months to his time in custody, the judiciary was participating in "creating further pressure on freedom of assembly", Oniani said.

Guro Imnadze, a lawyer, also criticised the ruling, arguing that the judge had a duty to challenge the constitutionality of the amendments.

By sending a person to prison for nine months under this law, [the judge] is not merely complying with what we consider an unjust legal act," Imnadze said. "She is also endorsing and advancing its underlying principles."